Summer in the USA part 1

Sorry for the long absence on the blog.  Micah and I have been really busy with all of our fun in the US.  Of course we are both back in Saudi now so I have time to sit down and try to remember our trip.  Micah was able to come to the USA with me for 3 weeks.  It was his first trip home in over a year!


Our first stop was Houston for almost a week.  My family was there to greet us in Houston when we arrived.  It is so much easier to get through jet lag when there is exciting stuff going on. During the first week home we were able to see my brother and his family and my sister and her family.  What a fun beginning to our trip! Sadly I wasn't in the picture taking mode yet so I only have a few.

Beau and Madasin

While in Houston we were also able to go to our old church a couple times and visit with our best friends from Clear Lake.  We miss getting to do life with these wonderful people.  We also feel so blessed that they welcome us back home every time and that it feels like there is no time lost.  That is what makes good friends.  Thanks Carpenter's and Harris's for being such wonderful friends. Again, I forgot my camera (so not like me) but I did get a couple pictures.  As usual, I don't really have pictures of the guys since they aren't quite as enthusiastic about posing. 

Addi C and Charlotte H at lunch

Meredith and Charlotte

Susie and Addi

Eventually, Micah and I started making our way up north to Oklahoma.  On the way we stopped by the Jackson's to see their precious new baby Emily.  Now, Holly and I have literally known each other our entire lives so Emily is more like a niece to me.  I was so excited to get to meet Emily even if it was just for a short time. 

Upon leaving Holly's we headed for Stillwater.  Micah had planned just enough time in Stillwater to eat at our favorite places: Eskimo Joes, Bad Brad's BBQ, and Red Rock Bakery.  We were able to spend some short time with my family and ride the "gator" on my dad's land.  It's nice to just be out in the country away from everything for a short time.  We could have stayed longer but there are just so many people to see in a limited amount of time. 

From Stillwater we headed to Tulsa to spend time with Micah's family.   We stayed a few days in Tulsa at Andy & Jackie's and then spent a few more days in Wagoner.  In Tulsa we were able to eat out more, go see a movie, church, shop, and more eating out.  One night we went to a Japanese steak house where they cook in front of you.  Kate thought it was really cool until he lit the onions on fire and then she cried. 

After a few days in Tulsa we made our way to Wagoner.  Our original thought was to go camping and ride jet-ski's but almost all of the Oklahoma lakes were suffering from a "Blue-green Algae" break-out.  Our camping plans were canceled but we were still able to float the river.  Micah eventually found a lake that wasn't having the algae problem so we packed up and went jet-skiing for an afternoon.  

When our time in Oklahoma was over we headed back to Houston to spend a little bit more time with my family and our Clear Lake friends.  At my parents house we spend a lot of our nights sitting on the back porch hanging out.  Well, my parents have new "neighbors" who like to pay a visit at night. This has given us new entertainment to add to sitting on the back porch....Coon huntin.  Yes, my parents live in a highly populated city in a really nice neighborhood but that don't scare no coons.  And since they live in this area we can't just pull out guns and shoot them so my dad decided to buy blow guns.  Are blow guns going to kill the coons?....No, but it is a lot of fun to scare them :)

Micah the brave hunter.

After 3 fun weeks together in the States it was time to put Micah on a plane and send him back to Saudi. Stories from the rest of my visit in the USA coming soon. 

Fondue and a Baby Too!

A little while back all of us girls were talking about how we had received fondue pots as wedding presents but for some reason had never used them.  So we decided it was time to have our very own fondue night.  Since I absolutely love "The Melting Pot" I bought one of their cook-books before we moved. This gave us the perfect recipes to try out our pots.  Our experiment led to some very interesting conversations in the kitchen as us four girls tried to keep everything straight, find counter space to work, and remember whether we were doubling, halving, or following each recipe.  We decided not to attempt meat on this go around so we picked one cheese and two chocolates. One of the chocolates we even had to light on fire.  It was a slightly crazy night but lots of fun getting together and learning.  Plus we can all finally say we used our fondue pots. 

Ohh yeah...You can't tell from the pictures that I have posted but Laura was pregnant at this party (Wednesday June, 29) and we were expecting her to go in on Saturday to be induced.  However, Savannah had different plans and decided to arrive on July 1 at 1:29 am.  It is such a blessing to be a part of Brent and Laura's lives and get to watch as their family grows. Lindsey and I were also able to help them out by meeting Laura's parents at the airport and bring them to the hospital.  We were so happy and excited for our friends that for some strange reason Lindsey and I both started crying when we saw Laura's parents walk out of the airport.  It was a fun experience for me and all the grandparents looked extremely happy as did Brent and Laura! Little Savannah is 6 lbs. 8 oz. and cute as can be. For some reason I didn't get any good pictures of Laura with Savannah.  Sorry Laura. 

Saudiversary

June 29, 2010.  Ohh I remember that date so well.  Sadly, I remember it because the next day the new Twilight movie came out and I was SOO upset that I was going to miss it.  I mean because the next day I would be in Saudi :)  Yes, I honestly did try to get Micah to change my plane ticket so that I could go see the movie. Anyway... This past year has been indescribable. There will probably be lots of adjectives in this post.  Sorry if they get repetitive.

In the Past Year We/I:
- packed up and moved across the world
- flew little Gizzy  around the world as well
- moved into a new apartment
- waited for my stuff to move across the world and unpacked
- made amazing new friends for life.  Feimster's, Ford's, McGuire's, Railey's- You are all such a blessing to us
- welcomed old friends to Saudi.  My life wouldn't be the same here without the Perry's.
- I watched two families grow as they welcomed in new babies that were both born in Saudi and one more to be born July 2! (Can't wait to meet baby Railey)

- played many games of "Settlers of Catan" and "Ticket to Ride"

- learned to cook way more things

- learned how to shop around prayer times

- wore an abaya often and even wanted to buy lots of them

- played lots of cards
- learned how to sew

- threw my first murder mystery party
- Celebrated 4 years of marriage

Best of All: 

- We have been to: Qatar, Bahrain, Kenya, Tanzania, Australia, Maldives, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.  10 countries in 1 year!! Not including Saudi or USA.

- We have seen lions, zebras, giraffes, cheetah's, rhino, and elephants in the wild, had Manta Rays swim over us, snorkeled with a Whale Shark, seen Koala's, scuba dived the great barrier reef, climbed the Syndey harbour bridge, watched the Nutcracker at the Sydney Opera House, went on the Sound of Music tour in Austria, Paraglided in Switzerland, hiked in the Alps, walked the ground that Hitler once walked, drank beer in an authentic beer garden, drove the Great Ocean Road, watched Penguins coming in from the ocean, and walked the Charles Bridge in Prague.

It has been an incredible year full of new and exciting experiences.  I have been the places that I dreamed of going and to places that I never even dreamed of.  Living abroad completely changes your perspective on the world and on life.  I will never be the same. Thanks to my wonderful husband for being my fellow adventurer.

Fun in the Land of Sand

After our amazing 16 day trip around Europe, Micah's parents followed us back to Saudi Arabia to spend 2 more weeks.  There's not really a lot to sight-see here in Saudi so luckily we were all ready for a little down time but poor Micah had to go back to work.  Sorry babe!  We spent most of our time lounging either at the beach or at the pool and working on our tans.  Marvetta was able to enjoy the compound life with me by going to play cards all day on Sundays, attending coffee mornings, going away parties, etc.  We just left Shelly at home with Gizmo during these times but I think he almost enjoyed his time alone.  However, we did have a few fun outings together.


One of the days that we actually left Murjan, we headed out to Khobar to sorta do my "normal" shopping outing.  First we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall bakery for some amazing cheese bread then we shopped at Silver Museum, Anteaq, and Desert Design.  Shelly and Marvetta loved Desert Design and walked out with some beautiful things.  Afterward we went to Chilis and were able to observe the Saudi "mall" culture and also the eating out culture with secluded booths and covered women.


Probably the most exciting outing we did was going to a camel farm.  I called and requested a certain driver who I had heard knew where to go and what to do.  We pulled into this little camel farm with two bedoin tents and approximately 25 camels.  Our driver, Jinto, went to talk to the Bedoin man who takes care of the camels to make sure he was ok with us coming out.  Let the adventures begin...
At first we just walked around and looked at the camels.  A few were interested in us and came up to us so that we could pet them.  Then the camel farmer came out of his tent and saddled one up so that we could ride.  He was a very good host and invited us into his tent to have Sudanese tea, water out of a shared bowl, and later he milked the camels right in front of us and let us taste it.  Yum (not really, I don't like any milk including camel). 

Tasting Camel milk

As I said before, most of our other time was spent lounging or shopping. Ohh yeah, and there were some vicious games of ping-pong, hookah smoking (trust me, it's legal), and many card/board games played. 

After 4 weeks together, it was time for the parents to head home.  We were sad to see them go. I missed having people to do stuff with all the time.  We miss you guys!